Wii

Today Joshua finally spent some of his birthday money.  He bought himself a cool Lightning McQueen car that is a computer with games, plus a new Wii game.  Joshua needs help playing Wii, so Andy offered to help him.  Well, with all the kids egging on Daddy, it didn't take him long to switch roles from coach to competitor!  Poor Joshua. :)

The dynamic trio, Daddy, Joshua, and the little pink fluff ball. 

Joshua, "Which way do I point my remote?" 

You can't see Joshua, but he's being helped by a two man team. What type of siblings would we be to abandon a brother in need?

    Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its Joshua getting his character stuck in the the untraceable labyrinths of cyberspace.

Sabbath Meal

The kids love it when school involves a special meal.  This year we are studying Antiquities (Creation to the Greeks).  As part of the study we will be celebrating Biblical Feasts.  Tonight was the first "special" celebration - a Sabbath meal.  We didn't quite end up with a traditional Sabbath meal, but rather what I called a "New Testament" Sabbath meal.  Typical Jews would never have what we did...pulled pork!  Everyone loved it, especially the dessert.  Enjoy the pix!

Grace decided the four tiered chocolate cake wasn't fancy enough...and needed lots of rainbow sprinkles!

Isaac loves pigging out on junk!

Sisters sharing! :)

Joy Anna found feeding Promise funny.

Joy Anna gave up on Mom sharing her cake so went to the softie - Promise - to steal hers!

The four tiered chocolate cake!

Nathan being goofy.

Nathan really loves junk.

I'll just take this big bite.

Choco-baby

Happy Tapping!!!

HALLELUJAH!!!  After 8 1/2 weeks my stove is finally replaced!  Anxious to hear the happy tapping of my pots, I quickly boiled some water and got some kombucha started. What glorious music to hear my pots happily tapping on my stove top once again!  Woo-Hoo!

For the PIG's school year we will have a  timeline running in the library.  I took a picture of them to put on the timeline.  Isaac was not in a cooperative mood.

LIGHTS!!!  It WORKS!!!  (Hallelujah chorus erupts int eh background!)

Happy Tapping sound of my pots - music to my ears! (and wow - my pots look really dirty in this picture!).

JJ-PIG's.  Aren't they cute?! :)

Hobbits

The cool nights (in the 50's) have finally arrived!  What a joy to have the windows open and wake up in the morning...freezing! :)  And what fun to have to bundle up in the early hours to get warm.  It was during one of these mornings that Andy discovered...hobbits! :)

With their cute hoods and toes sticking out, Andy decided Joshua and Joy Anna looked like little hobbits. :)

On a side note...my new stove gets delivered today (hallelujah chorus erupts!!!).  Andy may install it tonight rather than wait for Sears to come Friday.  If so, soup is on the menu - perfect for the cold evenings!!1  Hallelujah!

Labor Day

Well it's been quite a busy weekend.  School planning for PIG's for next week isn't yet finished (or even begun), but I wanted to get these pictures up for Danielle, who has been patiently waiting (not that she had any other choice). :)

The first big event was an impromptu trip to Grammy's to get a new van.  Grandpa ran into a friend a couple weeks ago who wanted to sell their 2008 Chevy Express 12 passenger van.  As it is much newer than ours and has much less mileage, plus is a nice upgrade, it seemed like a good idea.  And since we have a friend who would like to buy our old van, it's a win-win situation.  So, we are now trying to determine this new van's name.  I like Big Blue, or the Blue Whale (our old van was Moby D or Ahab's Folly).  Andy thought we should get vanity plates that read, "I8Jonah". :)

The next big event was to finally pick out a new cook top.  Yes, Sears is finally replacing my stove.  It has been broken for exactly seven weeks today.  I had to spend an hour on the phone with whatever department of Sears resolves customer grievances, but thankfully the woman I talked with was sympathetic to me being without a stove for then 6 weeks...and I never even told her I had seven children to feed! :)  The only challenge is they no longer make our exact same cook top (maybe a blessing in disguise?!), and the new stoves are a different size from the cut out in our granite. SO...we have to get the granite company out to adjust the hole (wider one way, narrower another) in order that the new stove will fit in properly.  Looks like I am still a couple more weeks on the camp stove.

The final big event for the weekend was the Wilson's 2nd Annual  Labor Day Volleyball Picnic.  We had five families over (37 people total) for volleyball, hamburgers, hot dogs and fun.  I think everyone had a good time.  It rained again (did last year, too), but that didn't stop anyone from playing.  Thanks to friend Katie Soost who played photographer for me.  Here are the pictures:

Andy took this picture to post on Facebook for Danielle.  To answer your question, D-, both vans are the same size, the blue one just looks shorter because of the angle.

It's the four car line up!  And only two drivers in the home...:)  Our friends will pick up the old van on Friday.  Had to move all the vehicles out to the pad to make room for the picnic.

Promise is showing off a cool feature of the new van - a sliding door!  It also has a running board, which makes it much easier for the kids to get into and out of.  Had hoped for doors on both sides, but oh well.

And the coolest feature according to the kids is...the dvd player!  This was the first time they were excited to leave Grammy's - only because they got to watch a movie the whole way home.  Can you say tv deprived?!

Lots of backlight, but trying to show the console - it's a bit nicer than the old van. 

The reason of the picnic, Volley Ball! Here an epic battle of boys v girls triples is underway... just, where is the ball?

Bill Wells, impromptu personal trainer, instructs Joshua on the finer points of acing a serve.

Who says Joshua is too short to spike?

Once the Stickneys arrived Volley Ball really started.

Nothing worse then having half the team disappear in the middle of a volley ball match. Oh well, looks like they had some fun.

If you'd just take your hat off Daniel, you wouldn't keep hitting your head on the rope.

Promise attempts to prove her epic jump roping prowess

One of the best dishes served at the picnic, funny stories and good fellowship

Trouble and trouble

Mrs. McMahon's definition of a good story

Trouble and trouble returns

Joy Anna enjoyed stealing other people's full water cups.  She was wet even before it started raining.

Trouble

So for the third  time, I had to pull Joy Joy out of the baking cocoa.  She made a mess of herself and the kitchen floor (again!).  Not sure her fascination with the cocoa, but she loves it.  Must be Andy's kid... :) (The cocoa now lives up high on the spice shelf).

She is covered head to foot in baking cocoa. And yes, she does eat it - licks her finger, sticks it in the cocoa, puts it in her mouth, repeats.

Listening to her scolding and looking at the mess she made.  Don't think I see any repentance on her face...just sorry her fun has ended.

But Mommy, I LOVE baking cocoa!

Happy 9th Gotcha Day, Grace!

On August 31, 2003, (nine years ago!), one very scared, confused and angry baby was placed into my arms.  She was a wildcat of a thing and NOT happy about being stuck with us!  That was a rough beginning for all of us, but praise God Grace grew to like us and us her! :)  Now she has blossomed into a beautiful, energetic, creative, smart, happy, fun-loving, girl!  Happy 9th Gotcha Day, Grace!  We love you!  

Everyone watches as Grace is presented with her Gotcha Day gift - a fancy cloisonne butterfly barrette.  The tradition in our family is that on Grace's and Promise's Gotcha Days, they get a gift from their homeland.  I have a tub full of gifts for each of the girls (they wish they could go through those tubs!).

Grace proudly shows off her fancy barrette and gets a hug from Daddy!

Grace saw this picture and decided she did not like her smile.  She said she can't wait to get braces to help her have a beautiful smile!

Showing off her fancy cloisonne butterfly barrette.